Coram Deo ~

Looking at contemporary culture from a Christian worldview


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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Finding a Job That Fits. Are you in the right job? On this episode of Renewing Your Mind, R.C. Sproul gives practical guidance to help us seek a vocation where our gifts align with the motivation necessary to succeed.
  • The Multitasking Myth. Reagan Rose writes “What I’ve found is that disciplining myself to finish one task before moving to the next isn’t just more effective. It’s actually more fulfilling.”
  • Christlike Work in a Burnout Society. Kyle Tucker writes “In the malaise of modern work, God offers us a hopeful alternative. First Thessalonians 4:9–12presents a theology of work rooted in divine love, quiet ambition, and missional living.
  • Three Myths About Aging In the Third Third of Life. Amy Hanson writes “I have found that the third third of life tends to be viewed the most negatively in culture. We are conditioned at a young age to see aging as a bad thing and something to avoid.”

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  • More links to interesting articles
  • The Top 10 Faith and Work Quotes of the Week
  • Work and Leadership Book Review ~ The Gold Standard: Building a World-Class Team by Mike Krzyzewski with Jamie K. Spatola
  • Quotes from the book Working for Better: A New Approach to Faith at Work by Elaine Howard Ecklund and Denise Daniels

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Biblical Love and What it Looks Like at Work. Joshua Nangle writes “This is the second article in a serieson applying the fruit of the Spirit in the workplace, and our topic today is the relationship between love (the first characteristic mentioned in the fruit of the Spirit) and work.”
  • A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
  • Who Are You Without Your Job? On this episode of the Faith and Work podcast, Ross Chapman and Brian Gray explore the complex relationship between identity and work from a Christian perspective.

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Reflecting on 30 Years as a Church Elder

Thirty years ago, in March of 1996, after being elected by our congregation, I was ordained as an elder in the church my wife Tammy and I still attend. I was pleased to have my parents present at my ordination service, not knowing that my Mom would go to glory just four months later.
Our denomination has a Book of Church Order (BCO), which is part of the constitution of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), and is subject to and subordinate to the Bible. The BCO states that within the class of elder are teaching elders and ruling elders. The elders jointly have the government and spiritual oversight of the Church, including teaching. Only those elders who are specially gifted, called and trained by God to preach may serve as teaching elders, or pastors. I serve the church as a ruling elder. Continue reading


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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Does Work-from-Home Mean Work-Without-Rest? Greg Phelan responds to the question “How can I find rest when work-at-home mode tends to imply that work never really stops?”
  • Stop Running from Rest. Steve Graves writes “What action(s) should we take to make rest a reality in our lives? Here are four simple suggestions drawn from Scripture.”
  • The Glory of Leadership. The Leadership Freak writes “Glory isn’t standing above people. It’s serving them.”
  • Three Questions to Ask When Your Boss Leaves Without Warning. Scott Bellavia writes “Frequent or sudden changes in leadership rightly lead to questions and uncertainty throughout a company. The charge to Christians in these moments, however, does not change. Recognizing that God is our ultimate boss, we need to have a peaceful, patient presence and be salt and light to those without an anchor for their souls.”

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Come to Jesus, All Those Who Feel Overwhelmed by Work. Kaitlin Febles responds to the question “Many scenarios could make the seasonal burdens of work feel overwhelming—think of an accountant in April, a teacher in August, or a pastor in December. But our work can also feel overwhelming on a more mundane level. A full email inbox, a big project, or even the regular daily grind can leave us tired and discouraged. What does God offer in the Bible when I’m feeling overwhelmed by work?”
  • Leading Through Hardship: A Conversation with Mark Vroegop, President of The Gospel Coalition. What does faithful leadership look like when navigating organizational turbulence? On this episode of Working with Dan Doriani, Dan sits down with pastor, author, and current president of The Gospel Coalition Mark Vroegop to explore the hard-won lessons that emerge from leading through difficulty.
  • Be Faithful At Work, Even When It’s Not Your Dream Job. Julianna Graeber writes “If you’re wading through a disorienting season of elusive career direction, remember this: God’s purposes remain trustworthy, even when they aren’t immediately revealed.”

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Leadership Attributes: Perseverance (Finishing Well)

In our series on leadership attributes, we now turn to perseverance, or finishing well. We can see our calling as a leader as a race. And after all, as we finish our race, don’t we long to hear Jesus say to us:
‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’  Matthew 25:23
But how do we persevere as leaders? I’ve seen many emerging leaders work hard on their development, pursuing educational goals, working with mentors and taking on challenging assignments. At times they would express concern to me that they were working much harder on their development than existing leaders were. The perception was that for some leaders, once they achieved a formal leadership position, they tended to coast – and I’m sure that’s true. Servant leaders, on the other hand, desire to keep on growing as leaders and adding value, as long as they are physically and mentally able. Continue reading


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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Resist the Peer Pressure of a Secular Job. Miranda Carls responds to the question “Since I started working in a secular environment, I have started struggling as a Christian. Help!”
  • A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
  • Why You Should Use Your Annual Review to Check for Mission Drift. Joshua Nangle writes “Mission drift is one of the greatest threats for Christian leaders and organizations. Whether in church ministry, compassion ministry, or the corporate world, leaders will regularly fight the temptation to become focused on things—even good things—that are not in alignment with the organization’s primary purpose.”
  • Three Models of Serving. Russ Gehrlein writes “No matter what our primary motivation is for serving or performing acts of mercy, it is all for His glory.”

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Leadership Attributes: Leaders are Mentors

In our continuing series on leadership attributes, we now come to a very important one – leaders are mentors. Mentors are more experienced leaders who willingly share their experiences with younger leaders and those aspiring to be leaders. I always enjoy mentoring others, and it would give me pleasure to see mentees go on to grow and achieve higher levels of leadership. Continue reading


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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Why the Faith & Work Movement Matters. David Bahnsen writes “The faith and work movement has a “next step” theological concession to make: that our work is core to the created design of our lives, and our efforts in technology, finance, entrepreneurialism, marketing, agriculture, manufacturing and commerce are not merely venues for living in the fruits of the spirit; these are domains of God’s Kingdom itself.”
  • A Leader Worth Following. My new book A Leader Work Following: 40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Masteris available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle editions. Read a sample of the book (found under the book cover in the above link).
  • Your Influence on a Workplace for the Gospel. Simon van Bruchem shares a few ways that you can do something to make a difference to the people you work with and even the culture of your workplace.
  • Good Church Music: A Conversation with Keith Getty, Songwriter. On this episode of the Working with Dan Doriani podcast, Keith Getty joins Dan to talk about his life in music: how he started in a household full of music, how he continues to fill his house with music, and why Keith believes the church needs good music.

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FAITH AND WORK: Connecting Sunday to Monday

Faith and Work News ~ Links to Interesting Articles

  • Work as Worship. On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to a question based on “I’ve been reflecting on a few verses in Ecclesiastes lately, particularly Ecclesiastes 2:243:133:22, and 5:19. Those texts repeatedly speak about enjoying the fruit of our labor as a gift from God to be enjoyed. But I struggle a bit to know exactly what that looks like in real life.”
  • Does God Really Care About My Job? In this video, Bryan Chapell tells us that our jobs are important because they are a primary place that we are reflecting our God in what we do and how we do it.
  • “Our Secular Vocation” Interview. This conversation is part of an interview between  J. Daryl Charles, senior fellow at the Center for Religion, Culture & Democracy, and CRCD’s executive director, Dr. Jordan Ballor.

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